Monday, May 28, 2012

Pioneer Woman's Potato Parcels / Potato Bundles - SRC!

OK! I will give up on saying something very nice, just look sheepish and
admit that I am one of those people who can't resist trying taters when it comes to appetizers /side dishes. Can't help it as
potatoes are so versatile and I don't normally need to rush out to buy
them. This month for Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned Cyndi's blog .
I almost baked her coconut tart and chocolate cobbler but then I
saw these delicious and easy Potato Bundles, Pioneer Woman's recipe.
Yes!! Too simple for words and an easy guess, these are cubes of
par-boiled potato tossed in herbs and seasoning, butter and cream ( yet another indulgent recipe from Ree
Drummond!), wrapped in
pieces of aluminum foil and baked in the oven till tender. Served
steaming hot right in the foil, makes for an interesting appetizer /
snack as well. See it as a nice fuss free accompaniment to your simple
week-day meal or a delicious after school treat for your kids or for
entertaining. These taste great warm and good even cold. So this could
go in the school snack-box as well!

Me and kids went on a short trip to our home-town recently and I
baked these potatoes on a whim late in the evening. For those travel
hunger pangs which are triggered by the sight of food stalls on the
platforms at the railway station, not to mention the sight of
co-passengers who eat their meal in the train. Predictably, my just-fed
kids were 'starving' the moment the train started to move. Since I did
not want to delay their sleep time, I had to give them the snack. How I would have loved to wait for folk to open their tall dabbas
filled with all sorts of delicacies before I opened my little snack. Kind
of revenge you see - just to see if their noses twitch at the aroma of
oregano, garlic, potatoes and butter. In case you are interested to
know, I had no co-passengers with dabbas that day :(. But my kids enjoyed the potatoes thoroughly...now, who wouldn't unless its someone who hates potatoes?

Here is the very simple recipe, play around with the herbs, fresh or
dried, use your choice of spices to make variations. You can find
Cyndi's recipe here and Ree's recipe here
I have generally adapted the recipe, so the quantities Ree uses may be
different. I guess these will taste good anyway as long as the potatoes
are well cooked with enough seasoning and you do not skimp too much on the butter, so feel free to alter the
quantities of the ingredients. A bit too much cream and longer baking
time may make the potatoes a bit too soft, but they will certainly taste
good! The quantities below worked well for me and I shall be
using the same again. I have omitted the onion, par-boiled the potatoes
briefly and then
carried on with the rest of the procedure.

Pre-heat oven to 190 degrees C / 375 degrees F. Boil the potatoes
for about 5-8 minutes on high heat. Your potatoes will be very slightly
soft, but not cooked. Drain. Cool. In a large bowl, mix together the
cream, butter, garlic and the seasoning. Mix in the potatoes ensuring
they are evenly coated with the cream-butter mixture. Cut pieces of
aluminum foil. Place the potatoes in a single layer in the middle of the
foil pieces, wrap very well (with an overlap of foil on the top),
secure the ends well to make parcels. Bake for 45 minutes or till very
tender. Serve in the foil. Open after about 5 minutes as there will be
steam inside.

The potatoes were tender, light golden at the bottom and very tasty!
Thanks to Ree Drummond and to Cyndi, this will be a recipe I shall be
making again and again!

Hi Suma, I am a regular reader of you rblog and I am very much imprssed with the descriptive illustrations. I tried your pizza recipe and it came out well. I am going to try this recipe but will be substituting cream and butter with some olive oil as I am strictly on a weight loss path

Sounds like they turned out really good for you :DI love potatoes, and the only potato appetizers I've tried and loved so far are the Potato Wedges from smtc.com and a Dum Aloo (chaat specialty from Calcutta) from another blog.Will try these too!

Hi Suma! I keep checking in on your blog for all the wonderful stuff you post! I had a quick question for you, shopping around fora stand mixer and looking at the various Kenwood models.Would you recommend any particular one?... Would be great if you could help me out on this. Thanks!:)